


Thou Shalt Not Covet

by somerandomperson



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Lydia Martin & Stiles Stilinski Friendship, Lydia/Stiles brotp, M/M, Misunderstandings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-20
Updated: 2015-01-20
Packaged: 2018-03-08 10:42:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3206285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/somerandomperson/pseuds/somerandomperson
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stiles thinks he might possibly be the worst friend in existence, he should be glad that Lydia is finally dating someone who treats her well. But Stiles can't stop himself from falling for Derek.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Thou Shalt Not Covet

**Author's Note:**

> Very un-beta'd.

Stiles has been friends with Lydia for years and known her for even longer. They went from pre-teens, one with a crush and one who didn't acknowledge the others existence, to close friends and confidants. Stiles still isn't sure how he ended up as one of Lydia's best friends but here he is and he while he loves Lydia there are three things about her he will never admit to her: 

1) He doesn't understand why she is hiding the fact that she is so close to winning the fields medal behind a (successful) fashion blog; 

2) Her endless selfies on her instagram make her look really up herself; 

3) Her taste in men is horrific; seriously, mindbogglingly awful. 

Stiles doesn't know where Lydia finds the men she dates but they all seem to be either vain, arrogant or douchebags, usually all three. Yeah Stiles can admit that they have all been seriously hot and (Lydia even acknowledges that one or two of them were seriously good in bed) but Stiles can't see how it's worth it. Stiles has spent a meal or evening out with Lydia and various boyfriends over the years and he's wanted to maim and injure himself the entire time. Listening to some random guy who has more hair product then brains talk superficial drivel while Lydia smiles and pouts at them is not his idea of a good time. 

So when on a random Wednesday evening in March Stiles walks into his local Indian to pick up his takeaway and sees Lydia having dinner with yet another good looking buff guy in a tight shirt he resolves to try and make it out of there without being spotted. Unfortunately for Stiles Lydia spots him three feet from the door and waves him over. There is moment where Stiles considers whether enduring Lydia's wrath for ignoring her and walking out of the door would be worth it, if in doing so he avoided the lunkhead of the week and their attempts to belittle and intimidate him, while he stands there holding his rapidly cooling food. 

Lydia's wrath is best avoided and so Stiles' makes his way over to the table noticing that while her dinner companion fits the good-looking and buff ideal that Lydia usually goes for, this one is a little different. Firstly he's not wearing any kind of brand or flashy clothes he's simply wearing jeans and a tight Henley. He isn't flashing an expensive watch or jewellery or wearing enough aftershave to choke the room. And Holy shit he has a beard. Stiles feels his eyebrows raising a little, Lydia dating a man with a beard. Stiles hasn't even seem her date a man with designer stubble. Lydia's new date is still gorgeous with his dark hair and sharp cheekbones which is probably why Lydia has made an exception, and is... holy hell is he actually standing up to shake hands with Stiles. Stiles can't help but gape at this guy for a second as Lydia usually has to make beefcake of the week acknowledge Stiles but this man holds out his hand and says "Hi, I'm Derek" without prompting. 

Stiles grabs the hand back still looking a bit dazed while managing stutter out "Stiles, I'm... err... Stiles". 

Lydia is looking at him with a bemused look on her face, the one that means she thinks he's being an idiot but she's in a good enough mood not to find it annoying. 

Stiles stays there talking for only a few minutes, as Derek didn't want Stiles' food to go cold (seriously who is this guy?). But in that time Stiles has found out the Lydia met Derek at the University as Derek is the new history professor and Lydia has been grilling Derek on his new book about the Vikings in America . Hot and smart, Stiles gives him until the end of the weekend before he's relegated to a random anomaly in Lydia's dating history.

Much to Stiles' and everyone else's surprise Derek sticks around. 

Two weeks after the Indian restaurant he sees Lydia towing a very overwhelmed looking Derek around the mall. Lydia doesn't see Stiles but Derek turns around at the noise of Stiles walking into one of those stands that sells iphone cases and gives him blatant 'save me' eyes. Stiles can only wave a little as the stand owner comes to yell at him and notice that Derek's jeans are so tight over his ass that he can see the outline of Derek's phone. And damn it Stiles shouldn't be looking at Lydia's boyfriend's ass no matter how glorious it is. 

This marks the beginning of a painful period for Stiles because Derek keeps showing up everywhere. He comes with Lydia to Allison's dinner party and helps Stiles with the washing up. He's there when Lydia and Stiles take Danny to Jungle to help Danny forget his break up and not only listens patiently to Danny for an hour as he rants about what a lousy boyfriend Danny's ex was. Derek also volunteers as the designated driver and drives them all home listening to Stiles' drunken ramble on Pacific Rim while Lydia and Danny snore in the back seat. 

When Stiles' jeep breaks down and Stiles calls Lydia for a lift because it's raining like hell, of course Lydia rolls up with Derek in the passenger seat and Derek gets out and volunteers to take a look at Stiles' engine.  
'Its not fair' Stiles thinks as the rain soaks Derek and Stiles can only nod randomly as Derek points out certain things in Stiles' engine as he works. It's all Stiles' can do to drag his eyes away from the way that Derek's shirt is now plastered to his body showing every dip and ripple of muscle. Because seriously what has Stiles' done to deserve this? 

Three months after Lydia starts dating Derek Stiles isn't exactly in despair but he's getting close. If only Derek were another hot muscled dude then Stiles would have enjoyed the view and waited for Lydia to get bored and move on. But no Derek has to be a little bit socially awkward and vaguely monosyllabic and kind of adorable in how he attempts conversation but it always comes out a bit gruff. Stiles can ramble for America so he takes pity on Derek and rolls with whatever topic Derek has brought up. Derek also has to be very smart, renowned in his field Lydia pointed out proudly at a brunch with Allison and Scott, and Derek just shoved some pancakes into his mouth and glared at Lydia like she's betrayed a classified secret. 

He's a shit friend. He should be glad that Lydia is dating someone who actually likes that she is smart. Who she actually talks about her work with and doesn't mind that she's so smart that she tore apart his latest journal article that Derek admitted he spent 6 months researching in little under 20 minutes. He even smiled (who smiles, even disparagingly, when someone ruins six months worth of work) and wrote down her critiques to research and counter. Derek lets Lydia be the fierce goddess that she is. At Isaac's birthday Derek literally holds Lydia's purse while Lydia verbally castrates and reduces to a sobbing mess the guy who had dared grab her ass. Derek just scowled at the guy over Lydia's shoulder and flexed in a way that made his muscles obvious (and Stiles' pants very tight) but let Lydia handle it. 

Basically Derek is perfect. Which leaves Stiles' in a very bad position because he's pretty sure that Lydia wants him and Derek to be friends. But Stiles' has what has gone from what was a tiny crush to full on pining. He knows Derek is out of bounds and he would never ever touch that in a million years. Stiles is nothing if not a loyal friend. But it just hurts a little every time he sees Lydia turn up with Derek because he just wants and he can't have. Every small smile he gets from Derek when Stiles gets one of his geeky history references . Every discussion/heated debate they've had about historical facts in movies where Derek gets really riled about the inaccuracies. Every party or dinner out with friends they've had where Derek has looked pleased and relieved to see him just gets to Stiles because. Even though it's a thousand little moments over the past few months, each one is like a little stab to his heart and his conscience. 

He wants to go to coffee with Derek, listen to him talk about his lectures and his latest research. He wants to be the one who Derek picks up after a night out in his mom car. He wants to be the one who turns up with Derek at one of Allison's pot luck dinner parties and apologizes that Derek bought something store bought because he can't cook for shit. 

But he can't because Derek is Lydia's boyfriend and he damn well has to get it into his head and his heart that Derek is off limits. 

Stiles tried staying away claiming work, seeing Scott for bro nights and catching up with Allison randomly but Lydia caught on that Stiles has been somewhat avoiding her and wasn't happy in the slightest. Lydia had turned up at his office and demanded to know why he seemed to have time for Allison and Scott but was far too busy with work to see her. She might have hid it well but Stiles knows Lydia well enough to know that she's hurt by the fact Stiles has been avoiding her and he can't give her a good reason for it. Stiles doesn't think he can just come out and say 'its not you I'm just a horrible friend who is falling for your boyfriend'. Somehow Stiles doesn't think that conversation would end well. 

So Stiles has found himself dragged by Lydia to one of her very boring academic parties at the University and then left with a random colleague while she held court on some theory that only he didn't seem to understand. Stiles has made a swift move for the bar after trying to make a Big Bang Theory joke with a theoretical physicist, which went down about as well as he should have known it would, when he sees Derek across the room talking to another of Lydia's colleagues. Stiles practically throws himself at the makeshift bar, because if he has to deal with Derek at any point this evening he needs some kind of liquid courage. He's standing at the bar, which is really a table holding lukewarm beer and wine in mixed-matched glasses, trying to not to glare at the woman with the smudgy lipstick who's backed Derek into a corner and is trailing a finger over his bicep. Derek himself is glaring at the woman who doesn't seem to be fazed at all that Derek's entire body language is screaming "fuck off and die". 

"Thinking of staging a rescue?" a warm voice comes from beside him. Stiles jerks away from staring at Derek to see a man with dirty blond hair and a warm smile is standing next to him holding a beer. 

"I, err" Stiles sort of waves in Derek's general direction "that's my friends, Derek, and he probably is used to women, men well anyone with eyes throwing themselves at him but I'd rather not clean up the mess when Lydia gets through with her" 

"Lydia?" the man asks "Lydia Martin?"

"That would be the one, that's her boyfriend"

"Oh" the man's smile disappears "should have known"

Stiles pats the man on the shoulder "yeah, believe me I know"

The man looks at Stiles curiously for a moment "I haven't seen you around here before?"

"Probably not" Stiles agrees "I'm Lydia's friend Stiles' and I've been dragged along as I haven't made enough time for her and she's punishing me by making me stand here in a room full of stuffy maths types who are talking about things I don't know anything about, holding a warm beer and wondering how much she'll kill me if I try and make an escape"

The man huffs a laugh before taking a swig of his beer. "well, I can't deny that the beer was kind of disgusting even before it got warm and yeah some of the conversations have gone beyond dry but I like to think we're not all completely stuffy" the man holds out his hand "Jordan Parrish" 

Stiles shakes his hand before something in his head clicks "wait, not the Parrish that pointed out an error in Lydia's calculations that set her back weeks"

Parrish smirks at Stiles "guilty"

"I'm not sure I should be talking to you, I think Lydia is still out for blood"

Parrish laughs loudly

"no seriously dude, I'd watch your balls because an affronted Lydia is a scary Lydia" Stiles grins "man she ranted about you for weeks"

"really?" Parrish smiles to himself "I didn't know I had made such an impact"

"oh yeah you did, she was incensed. Locked herself in her office for about a week until she had solved the problem, even then your name was mud. Even Derek got a earful for pointing out that you had inadvertently helped her"

"Derek's the guy over there, the boyfriend?" Parrish says pointing his beer bottle in Derek's direction. 

"yup tall, dark and broody over there" Stiles takes a quick look at Derek who is still being cornered by the woman but is now looking straight at Stiles and Parrish. Stiles feels his cheeks heat up and looks away quickly taking a big chug of his beer. 

Parrish sighs heavily "Should have known" 

"huh" Stiles raises an eyebrow

"Of course Lydia would have someone, I had been hoping, but never mind" Stiles pats Parrish on the shoulder again 

"Yeah" 

Stiles and Parrish both quietly finish their beers and when he puts his empty bottle back on the table Stiles finds another beer being put into his hands by Parrish.

"Well we're a couple of losers" Parrish sighs

"What?" Stiles turns to look at Parrish

"Me pining after Lydia, you pining after Derek" 

"WHAT" Stiles yells at Parrish causing half the room to stop and stare at them 

"What" Stiles lowers his voice back to a normal register "I don't know what you're talking about, I don't. what. Derek is the boyfriend of one of my best friends. And that's all. I would never, there is not. I just, no." 

"Stiles, really?" Parrish raises an eyebrow "I've only been talking to you for about fifteen minutes and you've spent most of those not subtly glancing in his direction and glaring at the woman who is trying to feel up his arms"

"I have not" Stiles hisses "I'm just keeping a friendly eye on a friends boyfriend to make sure that he isn't in an uncomfortable position"

"Yeah, a real friendly eye" Parrish snorts

"I being a good friend here making sure undesirables keep away from my friends man and, and, and oh crap" Stiles takes a massive gulp of his beer "crap I'm such a shit friend" 

Parrish put his hand on Stiles' shoulder and squeezes gently "fucking sucks, doesn't it when you meet someone and they make you feel things you haven't felt before but you can't do shit because they're taken" 

Stiles looks at Parrish and gives him a weak grin. Parrish grips his shoulder slightly tighter "you're not a shit friend"

"Oh god I am" Stiles rubs a hand over his face

"No look" Parrish puts his beer on to the table and turns Stiles to face him "you can't help what you feel and you've not done anything..right?"

Stiles shakes his head "I couldn't, not to Lydia"

"There" Parrish grabs his other shoulder so he is holding onto both of Stiles' shoulders and gives him a little shake "a shit friend wouldn't care about their friend and wouldn't feel so bad about this." Parrish dips his head to get Stiles to meet this eye "lets go drown our sorrows in a real drink" 

Stiles can't help but feel a little better even though he knows it doesn't let him off the hook at all. But getting away for a real drink with someone who's not going to judge sounds blissful so Stiles downs his beer and says "lets go" 

Parrish slings and arm around Stiles' shoulder and steers him towards the exit managing skirt around a confused looking Derek who was headed their way by giving Derek a cheery grin and saying "Tell Lydia I've stolen Stiles" leaving Derek standing in the middle of the room with a look on his face which if Stiles didn't know any better looked a little hurt.

Parrish it turns out is awesome, he likes the same sci-fi and B movies that Stiles does and tells really dirty jokes that has Stiles snorting beer out of his nose. Turns out pining for people you can't have is a fairly solid basis for a friendship. They use each other as excuses to get out of meeting up with Lydia and Derek. 

Stiles doesn't avoid Lydia like he did before but he does try to meet her without Derek if possible. Derek however keeps turning up and spends the whole time engaging Stiles in conversation and earnestly listening to whatever crap Stiles was rambling about.

"Its like Lydia really wants us to be friends and Derek is trying so hard in the face of my blatant avoidance, shit I'm going to have to say something. I can't keep going on like this. For fucks sake I kept up a twenty minute monologue on grizzly rage today just so that I could avoid letting either of them talk. I then obviously faked an emergency and left like my ass was on fire" 

Parrish just bursts out laughing. 

"Thanks for the sympathy, so much man, feeling the love" 

Parrish keeps on laughing like he pretty much has done since he turned up at Stiles' apartment with a six pack and a straight to DVD sci-fi monstrosity after Stiles had text him. 

"Sorry man" Parrish wipes his eyes "but the thought of Lydia listening to a monologue about grizzly rage is just too funny" 

Stiles can't help but laugh "aw man I should have taken a photo. She looked like she couldn't believe what I was saying and that she couldn't believe she was part of this conversation"

Parrish and Stiles are still laughing when someone starts banging on his door

"Stiles open up now" Lydia's voice comes through the door clearly. 

"Shit" Stiles flails his way off the couch and runs to the door and opens it to find a very pissed off Lydia standing there. 

"I have tolerated, whatever the hell is going on with you for long enough Stiles, but you will tell me now what the fuck is going on with you" Lydia pokes his chest very hard before sailing past him into his apartment "I mean it Stiles I mean I can't understand what on earth has gotten into to you these last few ..... oh" 

Lydia stops in the doorway as she sees Parrish standing in the middle on the lounge giving Lydia a small smile. Lydia just glares at Parrish. before moving to sit on the couch.

"Parrish kitchen, now" Lydia snaps. Parrish raises his eyebrows and moves quickly out of the lounge towards the kitchen.

Lydia turns the glare at Stiles "what the hell was that at lunch Stiles? You just basically did a monologue then ran out ignoring both Derek and myself. What is going on? Do you have a problem with me or with Derek?"

"God no Lydia of course not, it's just me being stupid and needing space"

"Space from us but not Parrish"

"Don't bring me into this" Parrish yells from the kitchen

"Shut up" yell both Stiles and Lydia

"I don't understand what's wrong with you? Why won't you even pretend to want to have a coffee with me?"

"God, I Lydia, I'm trying ok, it's just too much sometimes but I am trying with you know" Stiles waves his hand at Lydia "please don't make me say it"

"Is it Derek, I thought you liked him, you seem to get on well, I thought you too might be liking each other with all the dorky history banter going on"

"No Lydia for once in your damn life will you shut up and listen to me. Do you know what it's like to finally see you with someone who respects you. Who values your intelligence and sees it not as something that belittles them and makes them look less but something to be cherished and encouraged. To see you with someone that sees your strength in all its facets and thinks it's wonderful. Someone who isn't in it for how you look or as arm candy but sees the intellect somewhat ruthless goddess you are and loves you for it. Damn it Lydia seeing you, finally with someone who values you, who you don't hide behind simpers and pouts it makes me want to yell with joy. So yes, I'm falling for him but that doesn't mean a damned thing because your happiness, seeing someone value that is worth it, worth seeing and I'm sorry if it seemed that I didn't want to see that. But I do and I will do my best from now onwards to deal with my feelings and get the fuck over it because you my goddess deserve a man like Derek and no one not even me should get in the way of that do you hear me Lydia Martin."

Silence breaks out in the apartment as Lydia just gapes at him and all he can hear is the sound of his heavy breathing as he gets himself back under control. 

Lydia is just staring at him like she's never seen him before and Stiles just feels this ice go down his spine as he thinks that he might have just ruined everything. 

Lydia takes a deep breath and gets up off the couch and throws herself onto Stiles' chest, grabbing him tightly. Stiles slowly brings his arms round her and Lydia clutches him close. After a few moments Lydia leans back so that she can look him in the eye and Stiles is surprised to find her blinking back tears. 

"Stiles Stilinski, I do love you, you big idiot"

Stiles chokes back a laugh and hugs Lydia tight "love you too Lyds" 

They stand there for a few more moments until Lydia pulls away and digs through her purse for a tissue and starts dabbing gently under her eyes and pats the seat next to her. Stiles sits next to her and waits while Lydia finishes checking her make-up in her compact mirror before she snaps it shut and puts it into her purse before turning and looking Stiles straight in the eye. 

"I only have one question for you Stiles. okay?" 

"Okay"

"Where on earth did you get the idea that I was dating Derek?"

"Wait....what?!?" Stiles brain felt like it screeched to a halt and his heart started beating faster. "But but" Stiles feels like his muscles are filled with energy and he has to stand as he feels all twitchy "but the dinners?"

"You and I have dinner, quite regularly, or at least we used to" 

"But he picks you up and goes to your boring work parties"

"They are not boring Stiles but they are university functions and as Derek is also a member of the university faculty we often end up at the same parties so we carpool"

"But the nights out, the pot luck dinners, turning up at the coffee shop, all just to spend time with you"

"Firstly Derek was new to the area and I was trying to help him make some friends then I noticed that he seemed to like the company of a certain friend of mine so I kept bringing him along."

"No, what" 

"Please stop saying what, it makes you sound very stupid. And Really Stiles? He spends most of any gathering talking to you, well actually you talk at him and he gets this nauseating sappy look as you ramble, even when it's about complete rubbish"

Stiles begins to pace across his lounge floor, his mind going a hundred miles an hour, 'it can't be possible, can it?' he keeps trying to reply all the incidents over the last months where he and Derek interacted and he just can't understand, because for all that he's been pining for Derek he's been trying so hard not to pay attention to Derek he can't work out in his head what they truth of the matter is. 

Stiles sits down suddenly near Lydia's feet "God Lyds I'm so confused"

Lydia pats his head "Well you've managed to mess things up in there haven't you. My suggestion is to sort it out"

"How? Everything is all messed up"

"Then sort it out, cut through the interpretations and go back to the original data source"

"Are you saying I should just talk to Derek"

Lydia grips his hair lightly and shakes his head "yes idiot"

"Oh right" Stiles gets up off the floor and starts looking round for his shoes pulling them on quickly, grabs his keys and wallet and runs into the hall past Parrish who is coming back into the lounge. Stiles gets to the door before he realises that he has no idea where Derek will be. Stiles runs back into the lounge to find Lydia staring down Parrish.

"err Lyds"

"He'll be at his office at the University, Edward Wills building room 3.08"

"Thanks Lydia" 

Stiles jumps into his jeep and drives towards the campus. 

Stiles spends the whole journey to the campus and finding the right building trying to think of something to say. In his mind he sees himself turning up at Derek's office and somehow coming out with a rom-com worthy monologue that will see Derek running into his arms etc etc but by the time Stiles is standing outside the door to room 3.08 he can't think of a thing to say. 

"Dead silence" Stiles mutters to himself "that should work perfectly" 

Stiles takes a deep breath and thinks 'fuck it' before opening the door and steeping into Derek's office. And shit, even if he'd had a speech he imagines the sight of Derek in crumpled shirt sleeves under a vest staring up at him over his glasses would have driven those thoughts from his mind. Because Derek looks tired and grumpy and Stiles just wants. 

"I can't date Lydia's boyfriend" Stiles smacks a hand over his face, dead silence would have been better. "I mean I thought you were Lydia's boyfriend, which turns out your not and which makes sense now that I think about it because she never dates anyone who treats her well and you did so that should have been a big flag but I was too busy trying not to fall for you to notice and I just.... do you want to go to dinner?" 

Derek's eyebrows have risen to his hairline but a smile seems to be peeking out at the corner of his mouth. "So you've been avoiding me because you want to spend time with me?"

Stiles just smiles at Derek reveling in the fact that he can, without having to worry about hiding what he feels. 

Derek gives Stiles a slow once over before getting up out of his chair and walking over towards Stiles " I could eat".

**Author's Note:**

> I just wrote this today because I have had writers block something fierce for months and as this is the first half decent thing i have been able to produce so i thought i'd post it. I hope you enjoy.


End file.
